AGENDA #14a
TO: Town Council
FROM: Rosemary I. Waldorf, Mayor
SUBJECT: Special Appointment to the Board of Adjustment
DATE: September 11, 2000
Attached is a memorandum from the Manager detailing difficulties experienced in filing vacancies on the Board of Adjustment, and in having the required number of members present at meetings.
I agree that the suggested special temporary appointment of Lee Culpepper should be made in order to alleviate some of the existing problems. I recommend that the Council adopt the attached resolution appointing Mr. Culpepper to a temporary seat on the Board of Adjustment.
Attachments:
1. Memorandum from the Manager (p. 3)
2. Recommendation from the Board of Adjustment (p. 5)
3. Application from Lee Culpepper (p. 6)
A RESOLUTION NOMINATING AND APPOINTING LEE CULPEPPER TO A TEMPORARY SEAT ON THE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT (2000-09-11/R-13)
BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Council hereby nominates and appoints Lee Culpepper to a temporary seat on the Board of Adjustment, to be in effect until such time as the Board is successful in filling vacancies.
This the 11th day of September, 2000.
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Special Appointment to the Board of Adjustment
DATE: September 11, 2000
We have a situation with our Board of Adjustment that I need to call it to the Council’s attention, and suggest that the Town Council consider making a special appointment at tonight’s meeting.
We continue to have vacancies on the Board of Adjustment, and difficulty filling the vacancies. It is important that the Board of Adjustment have a full 10-member slate at every meeting, because many issues need to be decided by a 4/5 vote; because of that need, the Board is structured to have 5 alternates appointed. The theory is that out of 15 people, there should always be at least ten for every scheduled Board of Adjustment meeting. It has not been working out that way.
The Development Ordinance (and State law) requires that we have County appointees to the Board because some of our zoning jurisdiction is outside of Town limits. We currently have 4 vacancies on the Board: two Town, and two County. That means we have 11 members, and need to have ten present to have a meeting. More than one absence and we are faced with the task of rescheduling a meeting. As of last week, we did not have pending applications for Town appointees. We are in regular contact with the County Clerk to call attention to our need for County appointees.
Here is what has happened over the last few months. We have had variance requests pending since May. Scheduled meetings in June, July, and August had to be cancelled for lack of 10 members. We were not able to get 10 members to commit to come to the regularly scheduled September meeting (the Board’s standard meeting date is the 1st Wednesday of every month). After telephone polling, we were able to get commitments from 10 members to attend a specially called meeting on September 26. Subsequently we heard from one of those ten, saying that something had come up and that member would not be able to attend on the 26th. We are faced with the prospect of canceling that date, and trying for October.
We do not believe that the current situation is acceptable. We have a short term-suggestion, and several longer-term suggestions.
For the immediate, short term: We would like to hold the meeting on September 26, if possible. We have contacted former Board member (and former Chair) Lee Culpepper and asked if he would be willing to help us by applying for an appointment that we all would consider to be temporary. He agreed. He has submitted an application (attached) for nomination and appointment to the Board of Adjustment. Since he needs no orientation, he would then be able to help us immediately by filling out the full membership on September 26, and filling in as needed thereafter until we can get more permanent appointments (at which time he would resign).
For the longer term: We believe it would be very helpful if Council members and others associated with the Town would recruit people as soon as possible, asking them to apply for appointment to this Board. It would be highly desirable to permanently fill the two Town vacancies as soon as possible.
Perhaps the Council could ask the Mayor to write to the Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners, asking that the County move as quickly as possible to fill the two County vacancies (and, while they’re at it, to complete a long-pending appointment to the Planning Board as well).
We recommend that the Council fill one of the Board of Adjustment vacancies tonight by nominating and appointing Mr. Lee Culpepper. It is our understanding that Mr. Culpepper has expressed willingness to serve until other nominations and appointments can be achieved.